Formation! The Sasuke Retrieval Squad!

Episode Recap

The next morning, Izumo and Kotetsu, spots Sakura sleeping on the park bench. When they calmly try to wake her, the previous night's events came flooding back and she starts screaming for Sasuke and weeping.

The guards' barge into Tsunade's office and report the troubling news: Sasuke has left the village. Tsunade immediately suspects Orochimaru and asks them to bring Shikamaru to her. Tsunade's guards knock on Shikamaru's door as his family is settling down for breakfast.

Soon, he reports to Tsunade to learn that Sasuke's a missing nin and he is headed towards Sound Village by invitation of Orochimaru. Shikamaru's first mission as a Chunin is to bring Sasuke back.

However, there is a high probability that Orochimaru's men are guarding Sasuke. Sensing danger, he tells Tsunade to only assign Chunin and Jonin to this mission. She assures him that she would if she could, but almost all the Jonin are out on missions except the ones needed here.

He has 30 minutes to collect as many talented Genin as possible. Including Naruto. Naruto answers the door sleepily but quickly perks up when he hears about the mission.

The two are soon off to find Choji, who emerges after Shikamaru and Naruto eats a bag of potato chips. Shino is off on another mission, but Kiba is ready to go. Neji is chatting with Lee when Shikamaru and the others explain the bad news.

Lee is disappointed that he can't come, but Neji tells him to do what he must. The four Genin gather around Shikamaru, who plans the group's strategy. They will start on offense. The formation will be as follows: Kiba in the front because he knows the geography of Fire country well and has a keen sense of smell.

Shikamaru is next so he can see what's going on and signal orders to those behind. Next is Naruto, who can offer aid in both directions. Choji will be the base because he's the most physically powerful. And finally Neji will be last so he can scout the rear with his Byakugan. After the formation is settled, Shikamaru gives the group a pep talk.

He admits that he doesn't have a deep attachment to Sasuke, but he is one of Konoha's shinobi. Because of that, they will risk their lives to save him.

Just as the boys are ready to leave, Sakura stops them and she says that she wants to come. Shikamaru refuses to let her join. She breaks into tears as she begs Naruto to bring Sasuke back. Naruto assures her that he will definitely bring their team mate back.

As the Konoha team leaves the village, the Sound Four explain to Sasuke that he must die at least once.

Important:
You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload. By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it.

Please read the following before uploading

Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules!